The same inmate who was behind the plot in New Mexico to murder Justin Bieber was also behind an anthrax hoax in Vermont this past Thursday (Aug. 18).
A Vermont courthouse was threatened by the scare when the inmate was being sentenced for the death of a 15-year-old girl. Named Dana Martin, the inmate will be serving 35 years to life for the murder committed in 2000.
On the day in question, the courthouse in Barre, Vermont received an envelope on Wednesday that contained white powder with a note that identified it as “anthrax.” It had been marked as inmate correspondence from the Delaware prison where 48-year-old Martin is serving out his sentence.
Prison officials confronted Martin soon after about the envelope and it was revealed that the “anthrax” was actually foot powder according to New York Daily News.
Billboard reported that Police Chief Tim Bombardier released a statement that read, “This looks like his latest attempt to either change his living arrangements by getting transferred to another facility or returned to Vermont. Quite honestly, in light of his underlying sentence and the motivations behind it it’s unlikely we’re going to charge him with this.”
Martin had previously been incarcerated in New Mexico, where the plot was hatched to kill Bieber in 2012. The inmate was described as being “infatuated” with the pop star and had even gotten a tattoo of the “Sorry” singer on his leg. Investigators reported that he was upset with Bieber for not answering any of the letters that he had sent him.
He then convinced a man he had been incarcerated with to travel to Canada with his nephew in order to kill Bieber, his bodyguard and two Vermont citizens. The two were stopped at the Canadian border and detained when it was discovered that one of them was wanted in New Mexico.
Following the plot, Martin pleaded guilty to criminal solicitation to commit first degree murder.
